Show your Lines

Chapter 11

The mood at Alexis” house was one of fear. Most of the staff had been fired. Buyers had been brought in for all of the girls except for Beebe, Primrose and Dora. Leah had discovered that Beebe was not really being trained for sale, but was actually being boarded by her Master. Primrose was spoken for, but was still learning the skill sets required by her Master-to-be before final purchase. Leah realized that left herself and Dora as the only sellable slaves left, or in other words, Alexis total net worth.

When the bank called to inform Alexis that the check for her mortgage payment was returned for insufficient funds, Leah realized that things were coming to a head. When she saw the maid usher the men into the office, Leah felt her skin crawl. There was something about them, that despite their hand tailored suits and Italian shoes, screamed that they had crawled up from the gutter.

She tried to calmly work on the file she was assigned to while Alexis greeted them. Be still, she thought, be very still and they won’t see you. They opened a briefcase filled with currency and Alexis smiled. Leah felt a shiver of coldness go through her. She had not heard of slaves being sold for cash before. Usually the money was moved by wire transfer.

She was distracted by the instant message screen from Raymond appearing on her computer.

“Is Ms Alexis available?”

“She is currently with buyers, a Mr. Peter Monroe,” she typed back.

“Who is he buying?” the reply came back quickly.

“I don’t know.” Leah responded, “Why?”

At the other end Raymond tried not to panic. Monroe was a notorious dirt bag. Girls that he got often never reappeared. Alexis must be more desperate than he had thought. If Monroe got his hands on Leah, he might never be able to find her again. What could he do?

“I think he is here for Dora. Alexis enslaved her for embezzlement.” the words appeared on his screen allowing him to breathe again.

Leah tried not to watch as Dora took one look at Monroe and lost all control. She threw herself at Alexis” feet and begged with her to keep her and not to sell her to him. Her terror was so strong that Leah could taste it. This man must be a true monster if Dora was this afraid of him.

Monroe’s helpers restrained Dora and deposited her at his feet. He toyed with her with his foot watching her try to curl back in fear to his amusement.

“She will be delightful, Alexis. Thank you for thinking of me. Of course, you didn’t tell me that she is part of a matched pair.” he eyed Doreen hungrily.

Doreen held her head up proudly, “I am not a slave, Sir. I am a trainer.”

“How much if I throw her in also?” Alexis asked with interest.

Doreen gasped and looked at Alexis in shock, “I have worked for you all these years with loyalty and you would dare to think to –”

One of Monroe’s goons wrestled Doreen to the ground, binding and gagging her with an ease that frightened Leah to her core. Alexis looked up and caught Leah’s eyes and the looks she gave her made her want to scream in fear.

Leah dropped her eyes back to her work, but could not control her trembling. She heard Alexis laugh evilly then go back to talking to Monroe.

“Raymond! Get me out of here! She just had the trainer enslaved and sold to this guy. Help me!” Leah managed to type the frantic words calmly.

“I will have you out by tomorrow night, I promise.”

Leah cut the connection and cleared the history and was quietly working on the file when Alexis walked over. She did not stop working as Alexis put the cash into a safe and then leaned over Leah’s shoulder to whisper in her ear.

“Don’t think I won’t sell you to the lions when I need to. I have someone planned for you that will make me look like a walk in the park, Princess.”

By evening, Leah’s nerves were shot. Alexis had driven her hard the whole day, even taking her hard as she could with a strap-on. As she served dinner, a crash in the kitchen caused Leah to jerk her hand as she was pouring wine and splashing Alexis.

Alexis backhanded her hard enough to knock Leah into the wall. Without a trainer to do her bidding, Alexis dragged the dazed Leah to the training room herself, grabbing a cane and beating Leah until her initial anger had passed. Realizing now that selling Doreen was a mistake, Alexis had Beebe and Primrose get out the punishment box.

When Leah saw it, she began to plead and beg for forgiveness. She tried everything she had learned over the time she had been there, but the lid closed over her and locked leaving her in the confining, terrifying darkness.

Disguised as a thug, Raymond sauntered into Alexis” house unannounced with Vincent and several of his buddies. He was pulling in every favor he was owed and some he wasn’t to pull this off. He wished he had a camera for the expression on Alexis’ face when she saw Vincent.

Raymond knew that the money she had gotten the day before for the sale of Dora and Doreen had gone to pay the bank and other overdue bills. She would not have the money to cover this, and that is what he was counting on.

“So, Alexis. Mr. Perez hasn’t heard from you in some time,” Vincent remarked in his quiet, off-handed manner, “He’s concerned and sent me to see how things were.”

Alexis’ face looked brittle, “Vincent, what a — surprise. I have been sending Mr. Perez regular correspondence, I assure you.”

Vincent picked up a vase that had somehow survived Alexis’ recent temper tantrums and studied it, “Funny that, because he hasn’t received them. You should really use certified mail for the important deliveries.”

“I don’t - that is - am not prepared at this moment to make an extra payment. If you could give me an extra day or two, I am sure we could get this settled to both our benefits.” Raymond could see sweat on her forehead.

“That’s no problem. We’ll just take some stuff now and save you the problem. Mr. Perez authorized me to collect on his behalf. Boys, go see what you can find while I keep the lady company.”

Raymond frantically searched the rooms for signs of Leah. He felt a wave of disgust when he entered the training rooms. There was something evil about this place. In a barred cell, a naked woman crouched fearfully, whimpering as he entered the room. Another one, with the deliberate appearance of a child gave him a sultry look.

“Where’s Leah?” He demanded.

The sultry one laughed, “You just missed her. Mistress sold her off this morning.”

Raymond felt his heart sink. He was too late.

Carlton swirled the bourbon in the glass despondently as his other fingers played with the length of chain and rabbit charm. He had lost her. Alexis has sold off all her slaves and he had not been able to find where Leah had gone. The pain in his heart ate at him with hopelessness and despair. Ever since Raymond had returned and told him what had happened, he had retreated, no longer caring about anything, except for Leah.

The light of the study flickered on and Carlton turned red-rimmed eyes to see Raymond and Ming standing in the doorway looking a bit shocked. He must look like hell. He drank more bourbon.

“How was your vacation?” he inquired, not really caring.

Ming moved to the coffee pot and started making coffee. Raymond looked at Carlton, unshaved, rumpled and in despair.

“Quite nice, Sir. Saw some old friends. Ming and I spent quite a bit of time in London. Shall I collect the papers on your desk?”

Carlton shrugged, “It doesn’t matter, Raymond. I have lost the only thing that ever really mattered. What does it matter if I acquire another company?”

Raymond started to collect the papers, “Lost things often reappear in time, Sir. You will want to be ready when that happens. Why don’t you go upstairs and get some rest. We will find her. It is a small world of slave owners. She has to surface at some point.”

Numbly, Carlton downed the rest of his drink and staggered from the study clutching the collar.

Quietly, Leah entered the room with the heavy tray, trying her best to be silent and invisible. Her owners were death on silence from their slaves. She had managed to go almost a week now without a punishment for noise and she wanted to keep it that way. Carefully she began to arrange the plates and utensils on the table for dinner party. Leah had spent some time studying the large book in the study to get the table setting right, but she just knew the Madam Daw would find some flaw in it. She found flaw in everything Leah did.

The past nine months had been one of constant struggle for Leah. Master Kiet was demanding of her use, creative with his tortures and seldom allowed her the pleasure of an orgasm, preferring to see her beg for relief. Leah thought that he rather enjoyed keeping her so on edge that she actually had trouble concentrating on tasks, giving his wife, Madam Daw excuse to punish her even more creatively. Together, they created a vicious circle.

Despair hung on Leah. Madam Daw had been gone most of the week, giving her the reprieve to let her wounds heal. But she had returned only a few hours ago. It didn”t take a genius to figure out that Madam Daw hated her; hated that her husband preferred sex with the white slave than with her.

For a brief second, Leah glanced out the window to the expansive lawn and the thick security wall that ringed the property. She hadn”t even been recovered from the drugs they had used to transport when Master Kiet had dragged her by her hair out to the wall. Within five feet of the wall, the pain began, at two feet she was begging for him to stop. What looked like a wide, decorative metal anklet kept her prisoner. A key fob held by her owners could administer a painful shock at anytime they pleased.

“Daydreaming, Sunee?”

Leah jumped guiltily at the sound of her new name and bowed immediately toward the thickly accented voice of Madam Daw. Denying it would only bring more pain, “Yes, Madam. I am sorry, Madam.” Her still damaged voice was barely a whisper.

There was a long silence as Madam Daw walked around the table. Lean did not move from her bow. She knew better than to move until told to do so.

“An interesting choice of table setting, slave. Very American. So casual. I would think by now you might understand that we do things more formally here.”

Leah did not answer. There was nothing to say that would help her. She knew Madam just wanted to hurt her. Maybe the stores in Bangkok didn”t have the shoes she wanted or the dress she had ordered to be made for her was too tight. She felt a tear fall from her eye and cursed the tell-tale sign of weakness.

“What are you crying for, Sunee?” Madam Daw pulled Leah”s head up by the short curls, while forcing her down to her knees at the same time, “Your feeling hurt? You want me to hold you and tell you how special you are?”

“No—” Leah breathed desperately, “Please forgive this slave, Madam, I beg you!”

Madam Daw narrowed her eyes, “You are no good slave girl, Sunee. Talk back to me all the time. You stomp around the house on big, noisy feet. You don”t even bow properly, after all my instruction to you. You need to learn humility. I think some time outside help you learn better.”

“Please, Madam! Please, No!” Leah tried not to struggle as Madam Daw pulled her out the French doors and across the thick green lawn. She was much stronger than her small frame would have indicated.

Madam Daw barked some commands in Thai at the gardener, who came at a run to help. Leah tried to hold back the whimpers of pain as they drew closer to the wall and the anklet went from a tingling sensation to discomfort to sharp pain. Just short of where Leah thought she would start screaming, Madam Daw pushed her against a wooden post. The gardener quickly bound her hands behind her back by tying her thumbs together.

A thinner rope was used to tie her big toes together, forcing her feet close together, making it very hard to Leah to keep her balance. The rest of the length of rope was brought up around her neck, forcing her into an uncomfortable bowing position from the waist. The gardener added a second rope that attached to the post and also came around her neck.

Leah realized almost immediately the torture of the bondage. She had to hold the position just so or she would loose her balance. If she bent her knees too much to get relief, the rope around her neck began to choke her. The one to her toes kept her from standing up any for relief. Added to this, the constant, burning pain from the anklet, Leah had tears rolling down her face within a few minutes.

Madam Daw pulled on Leah”s short curls, forcing her head up to look into her eyes, “I”ll be back after dinner to see if you are more humble in attitude. I suggest you use your time to think of something suitable to say… in Thai.”

Time became an endless misery. She could only measure it in spaces of balance and choking, struggle to keep in that one perfect position that caused the least amount of pain and her struggle against muscle cramps and the inevitable need to shift. Slowly the afternoon sun faded into dusk and with that came the mosquitoes.

Leah could do nothing against this new torment, but close her eyes and shake her head. It did little to deter their feasting. Even though she knew it would probably bring more torment, she was grateful to hear the soft sound of footsteps in the grass. Madam had brought the dinner guests for some after-dinner entertainment.

“As you can see,” Madame Daw was saying, “I am doing my best to teach the newest slave some humility. Let us see what she has learned. Sunee, do you have something you wish to say to me?”

In halting, whispered Thai Leah began to beg for forgiveness, proclaiming herself unworthy of even breathing in the presence of Madam.

“What do you think, Mr. Dalby? Is her heart sincere?”

“I would think so.”

Leah”s heart almost stopped at the sound of Carlton”s voice. She didn”t care what Madam Daw did to her next, she strained against the ropes to look up at him and switched to English.

“Please, don”t leave me here. Please, I beg of you. I will be everything you want and more. Please, have mercy on me!”

Unaware that Leah was talking to Carlton, Madame Daw smiled at the fervency of Leah”s words, “I will forgive your English since your Thai is so horrible. But you are a worthless slave. Chen, cut her down.”

Leah fell to the ground, her muscles screaming in protest. The gardener”s rough hands removed the ropes and pulled her to her feet again.

“I have an idea,” Carlton said in an offhand way. “We could have a game of cards with this slave as the prize for the night.”

Madam Daw narrowed her eyes, “You find her interesting?”

None too gently, Carlton used her hair as a leverage tool to put Leah on her knees in front of him to study her, “There is something about her I find intriguing. You say her name is Sunee? Has she been trained for pleasure?”

“Yes, both male and female,” Madame Daw smiled. If things worked out, she might be able to trick this Englishman into buying this worthless slave while her husband was gone. She might even make a nice profit. However he didn”t seem too interested just yet. “Let me have one of the other slaves get her cleaned up. She seems to have learned well from her punishment.”

To her surprise, Leah soon found herself in a hot bath and being dressed in a luxurious silk sari in the Thai fashion. Hurried by the other slaves, she was brought to the study where a card game was in progress and ordered to kneel.

It seemed like hours before Madam Daw put down her cards, her long red nails clicking on the lacquered surface of the table, “So you win, Mr. Dalby. Do enjoy your evening with Sunee. Please let me know if she fails to please you in any way. Unless you need me for something, I shall retire and leave you to your pleasure.”

“No, I think I shall be fine,” Carlton mused “I will let you know in the morning how she is. Come, Sunee. Go to my room and prepare the bed.”

Ten minutes later, Carlton was in the room, slowly unwinding the yards of silk from her body almost reverently. Silently, he brushed the tips of his fingers over her skin. She was so much thinner than he had remembered her. He let his fingers linger over a pulse point, feeling the beat of her heart as his eyes saw the marks both fading and new that he had not put on her. He thought his heart would break with the pain from it. What had he done to her?

She trembled beneath his fingers, worried that she did not meet up with his expectations. She had held onto the hope of him for so long and now he was here. Would he turn her away again?

“Rabbit…” he breathed tenderly as he caressed her cheek.

Leah closed her eyes against the hope that rose in her heart. The hours of pain faded into nothingness with his one tender word. Tears began to flow down her face as she pressed her hands against his chest, “Please, Master, I promise, I will never disobey! I will never run. I will be everything you want, just please, I beg of you, take me back!”

Carlton leaned down and kissed away a tear, “I will find a way to get you back, Rabbit. I promise.”

He brushed his fingertips over her darker nipples and then raised an eyebrow at the sharp gasp on need and the step back she took. It was cruel to keep a slave that hungry. “How long since they have let you come, Rabbit?”

Shame flushed over her face and she dropped her eyes, “I- I am not sure, Master. Days seem to blur together here.”

Carlton nodded curtly, his face impassive. He reached into his suit pocket and took out his cell phone. “Raymond,” he told the phone and listened to it dial the number. He gave Leah a hand gesture to lie on the bed, never taking his eyes off of her. “Raymond? Yes. I have found what I was looking for. Please bring my package right away and my plane. I want it in place by morning local time.”

He listened for a time, just watching Leah on the bed and then nodded, “Yes, that will do fine. I will see you tomorrow then.”

He closed the small phone and slipped it back into his suit pocket as he sat on the edge of the bed, “Do you remember the first time I took you into the dungeon, Rabbit?”

Her mind flashed back to that night and she nodded, “Yes, Master.”

He ran his fingers around the swell of her breast, his eyes half closed as he watched her arch against his hand with a hiss. “Do you remember what I made you do that night?”

So hungry for relief from her aching need, Leah had trouble concentrating on his words let alone remember a conversation from so long ago, “No, Master. I am sorry.”

Carlton smiled, knowing the torment in her mind and body. He pinched her nipple and leaned closer,”Think harder, Pet.”

“Please, Master! Please let me cum! Please! This is torment!” Leah begged frantically.

He chuckled, “That was what I had you do, Rabbit. Cum for me.”

Leah had no trouble following his command as she writhed on the bed in her first orgasm in weeks, but instead of relieving the aching need in her body, it only seemed to make it worse. As she came back to her senses, she struggled to understand why her own body was reacting this way. Confused, she looked at Carlton, arching her body up toward him without even realizing it in an unconscious plea for more.

“So hungry,” whispered Carlton in pleasure at the need that she displayed. Part of him was furious that they had denied her to the point of desperation, but the sadist in him could not deny how aroused he was to see her offering herself this way to him.

He got up and took the silken tie from the dressing gown that hung on the back of the door and carefully bound her hands over her head to the headboard of the large bed. As he tied the silky fabric, she whimpered hotly, her arousal heightened. He remembered how much she loved being bound. Unable to resist teasing her, he ran the back of his hand down the length of her body, just feeling her skin. He toyed with her hard, dark nipples until she twisted frantically.

“Please! Master! Please!”

He chuckled, “Please what, Rabbit? Please torment you more?” He pushed two fingers into her and began to slowly fuck her with them, “Is this what you mean? Or perhaps this?” He pulled them out and pinched her clit, watching her open her mouth in a soundless scream of need, “What do you want?”

Leah”s mind was filled with only one thing, getting relief for the pounding need in her body. She ached to feel Master in her again. She felt like she would die if she did not feel him take her – the harder the better.

“Please…” She gasped, straining at the ties, “Please, Master… take me. Take me, I beg you!”

Carlton let his fingers slide down between her legs and played in the wetness there, driving her need to a sharpness that was almost painful, “Take you where? Or did you mean something else? Don”t be coy with me, Rabbit. Say what you mean. Beg nicely.”

Grinding herself against his hand she pleaded, “Fuck me, Master, I beg you, fuck me until I can”t breathe!” Her begging reached a fevered pitch when his fingers began circling her clit. “Please use me, Master. I have to feel you inside me. I”ll do anything! Please, do what ever you want to me, just please fuck me.”

Never before had he heard her beg so sincerely, so hungrily. For a moment, he nearly lost control of himself. He”d wanted her for so long… A series of staccato gasps formed as he drummed on her sensitive little nub.

“Please fuck my greedy slave cunt.”

Without warning, he removed his hand from her now dripping pussy. The fraction of a moment it took him to unzip and unfasten his pants was excruciating. There was no way he would waste one more second undressing. His trousers dropped to his feet as he pushed her ankles back toward her shoulders. He groaned as he drove himself deeply into her. She was so wet, but almost painfully tight from lack of use. He pushed deep and stayed there a moment letting her body adjust to his size again. He looked down at her between her spread legs and smiled a dark smile, “I hope you are hungry, Rabbit, because I know that I am.”

“I want you Master, more than anything in the world,” she whispered back, thrusting up as best as she could, trying to get even more of him. He felt so good inside of her, she wanted more.

Slowly at first, Carlton began to thrust with long deep strokes, enjoying the soft, pleased moans that Leah made. He began to thrust harder and harder, feeling her open up to him, feeling her surrender her body to him. God, he had missed her.

“Please, may I cum, Master? Please?” she begged frantically beneath him.

He almost laughed, knowing something that she couldn”t know, “Cum if you can, Pet.”

She felt her body straining for the orgasm, quivering at the edge but unable to find release. She thrust up against her Master, fucking him wildly, trying to get the relief she needed.

“Problems, Rabbit?” Carlton had stopped thrusting and was enjoying the work Leah was putting into it herself. He had never done this before to her and it was far too enjoyable.

“I- I can”t cum, Master!” She ground herself onto his cock harder, beyond caring what he thought of her, “I just need more of you, somehow… deeper… or harder… something…”

“Ah, my poor, Rabbit. Perhaps I am not using you hard enough,” He began to pound into her without any mercy, pushing her legs back further. She was his, she would be his again. He would posses her completely and she would know it.

Leah screamed out in a mix of pleasure and desperation. Never had sex felt this good and never had it been this much torment. She cried out in a mixture of pleasure and frustration, not caring who in house heard her, begging wildly for more. She felt Carlton push hard and stop, cumming inside of her, his fingers wrapping painfully around her ankles. More! She needed more! Bent as she was, she couldn”t thrust, but she tried.

Carlton, now more relaxed, smiled at his frantic girl and began to pull out.

“Please, no, Master, Please, no!” Leah sobbed.

“Trust me, Rabbit,” He lowered her legs and touched her swollen clit with the tip of his fingers and watched her arch like he had touched her with a violet wand as she came, juices pouring from her. But he did not stop, he kept rubbing the clit, forcing another orgasm and then another, milking the pleasure from her until her eyes rolled back in her head.

Gently, he untied her hands and repositioned her, chuckling when the briefest touch would send her body into another spasm of orgasm. He took a shower and then climbed into bed next to her, pushing his body next to hers, pleased with the soft, unconscious moan of pleasure she made at his touch.

Madam Daw looked up from her brunch plate as Carlton Dalby pulled Leah through the door by her hair and gave her a lazy toss to the floor. She sprawled at the foot of the table, naked, trembling, nervous fear etched on every surface of her body. Carlton had the look of a man who had enjoyed himself quite well during the night.

Master Kiet, who had come home in the night for the business dealings, also noticed the interaction. He gave a sharp command in Thai to Leah for her to serve Carlton. He knew that the business deal was not a sure thing. He would hate to loose a fun toy like Leah, but perhaps she would make the perfect bargaining tool to sweeten the deal.

“I hope that Sunee was acceptable in her service to you last night,” Kiet spoke gently, keeping a sharp eye on Leah. His finger lingered over the key fob on his belt in case she made the slightest mistake.

Carlton took the offered coffee from Leah, “She was quite delightful. I sold my last slave several months back. She was well trained, but she had no spark.”

Leah gasped and fell to her knees as pain shot through her body from the anklet.

“Sunee!” snapped Kiet, “You are to ask our honored guest if he wants cream or sugar in his coffee.” Kiet bowed his head to Carlton, “Please excuse her manners. I assure you, she has been trained better than that.”

Carlton smiled a bit ferally. Leah almost gave away that she knew him. “May I have the honor of punishing her for this? I would like to see how she marks.”

Kiet smiled broadly. The Englishman was falling for his plan. “Of course. Sunee, fetch our guest a crop.”

Leah gave Carlton a look of distress and confusion as she hurried to get the crop. He was going to beat her? She hadn”t done anything wrong. Was this some sort of plan of his? Carefully, she presented him with the crop.

“Bend over the table, girl,” Carlton ordered, “Spread your legs nicely, too. Show me what a slut you are.”

For a moment, Leah hesitated, unsure about the different person she was seeing in the Carlton of this morning from the Carlton of last night.

That moment was a moment too long and he grabbed her by the back of the neck and pushed her against the table and kicked her legs open, hissing in her ear, “I would do as I say, Girl, if you want things to go well for you.”

“Y-yes, Sir.” She stammered, her fingers clutching at the crisp white tablecloth. Seconds later she gasped as the crop snapped against her skin and pain began to spread through her. Again and again the crop landed, barely giving her time to deal with one lash before another came. There was a difference in this cropping from those that Master Kiet or Madam Daw gave. This was pain, but it was good pain. She didn”t want it to end. Tears rolled down her face.

When Carlton was done, she fell to her knees and kissed his feet without thinking about what her current owners would think or say. She just needed to thank Carlton, to touch him in some way.

Kiet briefly narrowed his eyes, “She responds well to you, Mr. Darby. Let me make this slave girl a gift to you as a sign of my faith in our future business dealings.”

Carlton looked at Leah as if considering the worth of the girl in front of him and the ramifications of what accepting her would entail. “She is rather entertaining….” He teased her cunt with his shoe until she whimpered, “If you insist. How could I turn down such a generous gift? My assistant will be arriving later today with the initial paperwork for our joint venture. I think that in light of certain… things, we will work well together.”

Leah began to cry. She belonged to Master again.

“Go to my room and wait for me there, Slave,” Carlton ordered, knowing full well why Leah was crying, but acting irritated to keep up appearances.

It was much later in the day when Carlton came into the room with Raymond in tow. Leah lay curled on the bed asleep from exhaustion. Carlton sat down on the bed and gently shook Leah awake.

“Rabbit, wake up my love. It is time to go home.”

She sat up, blinking, looking around fearfully.

Raymond had to bite his lip to keep from saying anything. He offered the leather messenger bag to Leah with a nod.

Curiously, she opened it and found a tissue wrapped silk package. Leah was careful not to tear the tissue paper, still too used to being punished for offenses like that. Inside she found a deep blue silk camisole top, a teal green flowing skirt and a patterned loose jacket in a coordinating print. Also in the bag was a pair of leather sandals.

“Get dressed, Rabbit. I wish to leave here as soon as possible,” Carlton reached over with a device and removed the anklet from her ankle, the distaste evident on his face.

Within a few minutes, Leah was ready to go, feeling strange in so many clothes. It had been so long since she had worn anything so normal. She glanced to Carlton for his approval and saw it in his look. Then she saw some sadness in his eyes.

“There are a few more things you will need to wear for now, Rabbit. They are also in the bag. Please get them out.”

She reached deeper into the messenger bag and removed a blindfold, a slave collar, and a pair of lined leather cuffs. She felt a strange sense of disappointment, and yet an odd sense of contentment at the same time. He did want her. He had wanted her enough last night to call Raymond and tell him to bring these things.

With grace, she knelt and offered him the collar to lock around her neck. When it clicked shut, she looked up at him and whispered, “Thank you, Master.”

Carlton stepped back, startled at her words. Surely she had not meant thanks for locking the collar around her, but thanks for rescuing her from this place. She couldn”t have understood the significance of offering him the collar like she did. His mind warred with himself as she offered him the cuffs, a look of complete trust in her eyes.

He took a moment and smoothed back her hair from her face, savoring her beauty, before he locked her hands behind her back. God, she was beautiful in a collar and cuffs. He wanted her now, like he had never wanted her before. She knelt there on the floor, her eyes fastened on him, her lips slightly parted, and he knew that with a few touches here or there, he could have her begging in need or screaming in pleasure.

“Sir?” Raymond interrupted gently, “The plane?”

Reluctantly, Carlton placed the blindfold over Leah”s eyes and fastened it securely. It was time for them all to go home.

Chapter 12

It was an odd feeling of déjà vu for Leah. Master had not made her keep the blindfold or cuffs on for the trip home, but he did insist on feeding her dinner. She had dreamed for so long of sitting at his feet again that being able to do it was almost too much. She kept crying, harder and harder, until Carlton gave her a couple of pills and had Raymond make up the bed for her.

Now she was in her old rooms. They were the same, but they were different. Gone were the erotic books, replaced with a selection of books more to her tastes from before she had been taken. The punishment room had been changed into a closet and there was a selection of beautiful clothes for her to wear and the door was not locked.

On the first morning after they were back, Carlton brought up a breakfast tray and sat in his chair watching Leah savor the cup of coffee like it was liquid gold.

“I need to talk to you, Rabbit, about what will happen now.”

Leah looked up at him over the coffee cup, “Yes, Master?”

“Rabbit, as much as I want to I can”t keep you as a slave.”

Leah”s heart froze and she almost dropped the coffee cup. Was he going to sell her again?

Carlton continued, not noticing the horror on her face, “It was wrong of me to buy you. God knows I love owning you. But I can”t do this to you. I care too much for you.

“I can”t send you home. You have been declared dead for one thing. Also, if the slave system finds out that I have released you, they will just take you back into the system and sell you to someone like Alexis again.”

He noticed the look on her face now and assigned it to the wrong reason, “I won”t let that happen, Rabbit. I promise. I have made some plans for you so you will be safe, but you can have your life back. I have people that will be able to make a new identity for you and I will set you up in a flat. I can arrange a job for you until you find one of your own if you like. I will do everything in my power to give you back your life.”

All Leah could do was nod dumbly.

For several days, Leah did not leave her rooms. She lay in the large bed, curled up on the luxurious linens unable to deal with the idea that Master was going to send her away.

When he came into the room to ask why she was still in bed, she would force a smile and manage an excuse about after all the horror, she was just being lazy.

In Carlton”s office, Raymond looked up from his work to see Carlton watching the surveillance screen of Leah. Carlton had not touched his work the whole morning. His coffee had cooled and developed an unappetizing film.

“She did not take the news of leaving you well, Sir?” Raymond asked politely.

Carlton swung around, confusion across her face, “What makes you say that?”

Raymond nodded to the screen, “She is in depression, Sir. You have given her freedom and she has not taken it. You have given her clothes to wear, but has she worn anything more than the robe she had before she left?”

Carlton turned back and looked at the screen, seeing now what he had not seen before.

Ming walked over to Raymond and rested her arm on Raymond”s shoulder, “If I may, Sir. I know where her mind has been. I knew her before you sold her. She loved you then. She loved you even when you pushed her away. I can only imagine that it was you she cried out for when things were unbearable. That in her dreams, it was you that came to rescue her. And when you did, you did not put your collar around her neck, you told her that you were going to send her away. Sir, her heart is breaking.”

There was a long silence in the room before Carlton spoke, “Raymond, take the car tonight and take Ming someplace nice for dinner. You two deserve it. I would like some privacy with Rabbit tonight.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Leah heard the door of her room open and struggled to find the energy to sit up. It really didn”t matter anymore. She would just ask him to leave the tray and she would get rid of the food. She didn”t want to eat. She didn”t want to breathe, but it kept happening.

“You have until the count of three to be out of that bed and on your knees, Rabbit,” Carlton”s most commanding voice shook her out of her stupor. “ONE. TWO.”

Almost a year of do or die training took over and Leah was on the floor by the count of three – dazed and confused, not sure what was happening.

Carlton grabbed a fistful of her lank hair and pulled her head back, forcing her to look up at him. “You stink. Your hair is disgusting. You have been throwing away the food I have brought for you. You are not free yet, therefore you still belong to me and you do not have permission to take care of my property in this manner. Do you understand?”

“Y-Yes…” Leah whispered.

He tightened the grip on her hair, pulling back until she gasped in startled pain. He let a coldness of further displeasure creep into his voice, “Yes? It”s a good thing you haven”t bothered to dress, because I won”t have to waste my time undressing you.”

The familiar black crop snapped hard twice on her outer thigh and he was pleased to see the lethargic dullness clearing from her eyes. “Would you like to try that again, Rabbit? Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master.”

He released her from the painful position and snapped, “Present!”

She fumbled into position.

“That took far too long. I am not pleased. Go into the bathroom and clean yourself from head to toe and then present yourself back at my chair for inspection.”

A strange warmth filled Leah as she almost ran to the bathroom to get cleaned up. She took extra care with her preparations knowing that her Master was going to inspect her. Thoughts whirled through her head. Did he mean it that he still owned her? Was this just a whim of his? Could she use this time to get him to realize that she was a good slave?

A half hour later she knelt before him, trembling softly – half in fear that she had forgotten something, half in desperation that he find her pleasing.

Carlton ran his fingers over her skin, feeling the softness, and looked into her eyes.

“It is obvious from the past few days, Rabbit, that you are not ready to go out on your own. I do still own you, and I am responsible for you. I will not allow you to hurt yourself. If you cannot care for yourself here, then you are not able to do so alone. Am I wrong?”

His tone brooked no discussion and Leah shook her head, “No, Master.”

Carlton paused for a long moment before continuing, “Leah, before you answer this next question, keep this in mind. Your answer will not get you punishment. There is no “right” answer. Do you want to be my slave?”

Leah caught her breath. She had not expected to be asked point blank. She looked around the room that had once been her prison, “When I first came here, no. But, Master, you have taught me to love your touch. I can”t imagine wanting to be anywhere else but at your feet. Yes, Master, I want to be your slave.”

Carlton nodded in understanding, “Then you shall be. This is how it shall be. I will not lock you in. I will not keep you here against your will. Every morning and every evening you will kneel and present yourself to me. At that time you will ask me if you may continue as a slave in my service. This will be something of mutual agreement, Rabbit. It will not be something forced.

“When I sold you, I was dealing with conflicting emotions regarding you. I had been taught that you never fall in love with a slave that you own. I had done just that. I thought that removing you, I could remove my feelings for you, but I was wrong. I don”t want to go through my life without you either, Rabbit.”

Relief poured through Leah, “You really care for me, Master?”

He reached down and pushed a stray curl back from her face, “More than you may ever know. I love you. I think I loved you the moment I saw you at the sale. Now present to me.”

Kneeling up to her best posture, fingers laced behind her neck, Leah looked at Carlton with tears in her eyes, “Master, may I continue to be your slave?”

From his pocket he took out her collar and fastened it around her neck so the rabbit charm dangled at the hallow of her throat, “You may, continue.”

Leah touched the rabbit charm and smiled up at her Master. She was home.